STRUCTURE OF THE GOVERNMENT 9

For. administrative purposes, British India was divided
into nine Provinces, excluding Burma; but the size of each
of these Provinces is equal to some of the great countries of
Europe. For instance, the Province of Madras is larger than
Italy, and the Punjab exceeds the area of Great Britain.
Assam, which is the smallest of all the Provinces, is really as
large as England and Wales.

Legislative powers were at first confined to the Viceroy's
Executive Council. After the Mutiny, a few Indians were
nominated to sit with the officials on the Legislative Councils,
but they could have no effective voice in making laws.
Towards the latter part of the nineteenth century, in con-
sonance with the growing political ambitions of educated
Indians, the Salisbury Government was persuaded to enlarge
the Councils, thus providing more facilities for Indians to
express their views upon the whole field of administration.
The Indian Councils Act, 1892, was piloted through the
House of Commons by Mr. George N. Curzon (afterwards
Lord Curzon), then Under-Secretary of State for India.
Perhaps the most important feature of the Bill was that
members were allowed to discuss, though not vote upon,
the Budget and ask questions relating to the main aspects
of administrative policy and action. The mode of election
was not by electorates but by nomination. The British
Liberals proposed the application of the elective principle,
but, to the surprise of Indian politicians, it was withdrawn
by Gladstone himself. The Bill passed through Parliament
with the assurance from Mr. Curzon that it was not " a
great or an heroic measure." The Indian National Congress
realized that its demand for the Executive to be made
responsible to a growing public opinion had not been
conceded, but they were satisfied with a small beginning of
the process of bringing it into close touch with bureaucracy.